Cpl. Keith Heacook of the Delmar Police Department was pronounced "clinically dead" Wednesday. He was brutally beaten and reportedly stomped answering a fight call Sunday. (Photo: Delaware State Police)
A Delaware police officer has died days after he was attacked while responding to a fight.
Cpl. Keith Heacook, 54, was declared "clinically dead" Wednesday at 12:48 p.m. at a Baltimore hospital, Delmar Police Chief Ivan Barkley told NBC Philadelphia.
On Sunday, shortly after 5 a.m., Heacook responded to a fight in progress.
A 911 caller reported a man, later identified by authorities as Randon Wilkerson, 30, was fighting with other residents inside the house and destroying items inside the home. Moments later, a separate 911 call was made by a neighbor of the original caller across the street claiming, he and his wife had been attacked by a man who was no longer in the house.
When Heacook arrived at the home, he was confronted by Wilkerson, investigators said.
A woman inside the home reportedly witnessed a man "slam his foot down on (the officer's head) repeatedly" as the officer was face down and appeared unconscious. How the officer ended up on the floor is unclear, WBOC reports.
The dispatcher on the line with Heacook tried checking on him but received no response. Additional officers, including a state trooper and a Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office deputy, were dispatched and found Heacook unconscious inside the home, according to officials.
As police investigated, they found an elderly couple who had also been assaulted across the street. Investigators said their attack was related to the first, and the couple was rushed to area hospitals, with one also transferred to R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore.
Heacook was a 22-year veteran with the Delmar Police Department. He is survived by a wife and son.
Wilkerson's charges will be upgraded to include murder, according to Jennings.
